THE NEXT EVENT - by Kolyaaa!

CHAPTER TWELVE: THE ALICORN

A/N: Your feedback is tasty - like a slab of cobra steak, spread with mongoose jam and topped with a dollop of lobster goo. mmmmm. More please!

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The alicorn stood proud in the small glade, as if fully aware of its magnificence. The sun glimmered over its sleek white coat. A hint of a curl twisted the supple fur, softening its outline in the afternoon sun. A golden horn spiraled from its forehead, tapering from a wide base to a finely honed point.

Lowering its head, the creature grazed on the waving sweet green grass. Fresh blades lapped at its shorthaired legs, whispering across beautifully formed fetlocks and pasterns. Its cloven hooves remained invisible within the nitrogen fed grasses.

A gentle breeze ruffled fine delicate hairs along its body, gently lifting and curling them. They caught the glare of the sun and seemed to shimmer in the light, giving the creature a peaceful aura.

The alicorn's erect ears lazily twisted left and right, pivoting effortlessly on its fine-boned head. They tapered to a point and nearly touched over its poll. Soft doe brown eyes swiveled left and right in a lazy manner under the protection of long, naturally curved lashes.

Corporal Jerkin set down his pack to withdraw a length of black twill rope, getting ready to show off the special skill that had Sheppard choosing the newcomer marine for this particular mission. The others, though, just stared at it in disbelief.

Mesmerized, Beckett watched the creature from the cover of the forest. Birds chirped in the background, a soft breeze blew across the alicorn's flanks from a westerly direction. The sun gently warmed the area.

Nonor was right - there was nothing to fear here.

The alicorn was beautiful, a magnificent creature. Well-defined muscles bulged and flexed from its elongated neck across its massive shoulders to its flanks. Its hindquarters were rounded and no less muscular than the rest of its body. The powerful back legs tapered to the fine-boned lower legs of an animal that was made for speed and power.

It casually shifted its weight once again, exposing its delineating muscular physique under the shimmering gleam of its startlingly white coat. It practically glowed in the sunlight. The sun wrapped around the prominent horn accenting a radiating golden halo.

The proud statuesque figure was more breathtaking than any young girl's fantasy of mythical woodland creatures.

After a moment, the alicorn raised its head, tenderly grinding a tuff of lush grass that hung limply from the corners of its petite mouth. Its pointed split upper lip hinted at prehensile tendencies, tossing it from a simple grazing animal to a browser.

McKay was right, too. It appeared more similar to Llama than an equine.

From across the glade behind the alicorn a shadow moved. Ronon and Nonor spotted it first. Their sudden shift in attention drew McKay and Beckett's notice. The foursome watched with furrowed brows as the shadow on the opposite side of the glade shifted again.

Corporal Jerkin skirted around the edge of the woods. He placed his gun down against a tree and hefted something in his other hand.

"Wait, already?" McKay muttered. "I thought the plan was to observe the creature first."

Beckett merely shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. He sighed, leaned against a tree, content to just observe the alicorn in peace.

Across the way, the corporal straightened, braided rope in hand.

Red inched from the cover of the forest, hunched low, the lariat loop held loosely in his left hand and the coil in his right.

The alicorn faced away from the marauding soldier and peered into the sun.

A tiny, young nuttalli hopped through the grass. Its bobbed purple tail twitched as if wagging. The very ends of its downy coat caught and reflected the gentle afternoon sunlight. The young nuttalli stood on its hind feet and pawed playfully at the alicorn.

The magnificent beast tenderly bent its head and lowered its horn toward the tiny creature.

The nuttalli danced away only to stop and paw at the air again. Its tiny bobbed tail waved with heightened vivacity.

The benevolent frolicking continued. The giant shimmering alicorn dutifully played cat-and-mouse with the tiny creature, as the stretching rays of an afternoon sun caressed them.

Not a bug buzzed near the foursome that watched the serene play from the edge of the wood.

Beckett exhaled dreamily allowing a dimpled smile to brighten his whiskered face. It had seemed like ages since he had ever felt such warmth and peace.

McKay grunted in nauseated disgust. He fiddled with his scanner impatient to get things moving, and then reached up to touch the radio on his ear. "Colonel?" he whispered, not wanting to scare off the creature they sought. "Colonel, I think we found one of those alicorns."

Meanwhile, Corporal Jerkin stalked closer, letting the loop of the lariat dangle further from his body as he straightened his left arm, preparing to cast it aloft. McKay paused, half impressed, half jealous of the Texan's confidence and obvious skill. He'd heard the boy had grown up on a ranch, and had competed in a rodeo circuit before entering the service – they were about to see why he had won so many ribbons.

The alicorn continued its gentle play with the toddling nuttalli. McKay's radio buzzed with a moment of static and he heard a garbled voice. He frowned, annoyed.

"I mean, it has to be an alicorn," McKay continued. "It has one big horn, but it looks more like a llama than a unicorn. Guess that makes it a, uh, llamacorn." Someone groaned through the radio, and McKay smiled.

Red crouched lower to the ground, grapevining silently around the blind side of the alicorn towards its beautiful horned head.

"Don't see what the big fuss is about," Rodney continued his commentary, wishing the transmission was clearer and he could hear what the colonel was saying. All he could differentiate was a snappiness in his responses.

The alicorn lowered its triangular face and shook its horn at the young purple-tailed nuttalli, causing the little creature to chirp with delight and dance to the right. It pawed at the lowered horn delighted in the play.

Red widened the loop, accommodating for the spiral fine-point horn.

The alicorn brushed its golden horn against the side of the nuttalli, delicately knocking the weanling to the side. The young creature let out with a gentle squeal as it lay on its back and wrapped two soft paws around the point and chirped.

"Doesn't seem like much to me," McKay added.

Jerkin raised the loop over his head slowly and began to swing it, waiting for the animal to stop its play and lift its head.

The play ended with one quick movement. The alicorn suddenly lunged forward fiercely burrowing its horn into the ground. The little nuttalli squealed in terror as the sharp point was rammed through its body.

Beckett squeaked and pushed himself upright nearly tripping over his own feet. McKay's hand fell from his ear, all attempts at commentary abandoned, and he lashed out an arm to steady the medical doctor.

Unfazed, Corporal Jerkin swung the rope a second time and tossed it the moment the alicorn raised its head, the nuttali cleanly spitted on its horn. He leaned forward into the throw, extending his left arm straight. His shoulder and elbow extended and followed the motion of his hand and snapping wrist. The lariat loop sailed wide and true through the air toward the alicorn.

The alicorn pirouetted on its hind feet, raising its head from the grass flinging a thick tuft of grass and rich dark soil into the air. The young bobbed-tail nuttalli twitched and eeped. Its small legs twitched and trembled as little hoarse squeaks gurgled from its bloodied mouth.

Then the alicorn bared its teeth...it's very pointy, very sharp teeth.

Beckett gasped.

McKay's eyes widened. His left hand fumbled blindly at his holster. The scanner in his right hand and his panic marred his futile attempts.

Nonor, seeing his intent, hissed and pulled McKay's left arm up and away, further interfering with his attempts to free his sidearm. Gripping his left wrist tightly, she whispered harshly, "The alicorn must not be harmed!"

Ronon frowned at her, but had yet to pull his own weapon, not sure there was any real danger yet.

Suddenly, the alicorn lunged forward with impossible speed, dropping its head and massive horn under the sailing lariat loop and then dove upward, snapping its neck and head toward the sky. The lariat lapped ineffectively across its extended shoulders and flowing mane – and the alicorn kept moving.

"Look out!" Beckett shouted, well aware it was far too late. Nonor's hold on McKay's arm tightened like a vice, fighting his attempt to get free.

The spiraled, thick-base horn, impaled the shocked corporal's abdomen with frightening speed, thrusting upward and forward. The force punched Red's abdomen backward - jolting his head forward toward his chest.

Ronon reached for his gun but Nonor's other hand grabbed his arm as well, now holding two men back.

"It was just defending itself!" she insisted, tightening her grip. "We can not harm it!"

"Let go of me," Ronon snapped back, pulling his arm free of her grip. The two Satedans stared at one another. A soft choking sound emanated from Beckett. McKay wrenched his own arm free while she was distracted, and finally put his scanner away to free his right hand.

But it was already too late.

Red gasped. His grip on the rope tightened reflexively and then loosened as he was flung from his feet and tossed into the air with the horn burrowing grotesquely into his body. With a wet groan, the horn punctured through Corporal Jerkin's back, tenting his coat before shooting itself free with blood and strips of thickened gore wrapped around its spirals.

The alicorn reared on its hind legs pawing the air with its front feet. Red's body slid down the remainder of the horn, sandwiching the tiny body of the young nuttalli between Red's back and the alicorn's forehead.

Thick blood ran down the mythical creature's face, marring the white fur. Its flared nostrils aerosoled the densely running blood, spraying it in a wide fanning arc. It formed a red halo around the creature's muzzle. Fine crimson droplets dusted the trampled green grass at its feet.

The alicorn's brown eyes rolled in its majestic head, exposing the whites. It pounded its feet, tossing its head left and right, up and down. The limbs of the dead flopped listlessly to and fro. The alicorn reared again, screeching a fierce high-pitched scream.

The four spectators watched in macabre awe and horror.

Red's legs and hands twitched nonsensically back and forth as nerve endings shorted out. Fingers curled and partially straightened as the final throws of death slowly stole physical movement. Beckett could discern through the thickened gore the bared and misaligned vertebrae. A section of spinal column lay exposed to the sun as ribs peeled back from the body like a fried onion flower appetizer.

"I think I'm going to be sick," McKay admitted softly.

The alicorn spun on its hind feet and stared in the direction of the four observers. The creature reared again, slashing the air with its cloven hooves. Thickened blood cascaded down its wavy coat, congealing slowly in the sun's warmth.

The alicorn spun again on its hind feet and effortlessly galloped for the eastern edge of the glade. It kicked and bucked violently tossing its hind feet into the air, letting loose with a crescendo of exploding flatulence. It crashed through the trees with Jerkin and the young nuttalli still skewered to its drying blood coated golden horn.

The four stood at the edge of the wood in silent shock.

Beckett swallowed thickly and blinked.

McKay, wide-eyed, rubbed at his left wrist, already turning red from the Satedan woman's grip, and lowered his head, taking in a deep breath.

Ronon rubbed at his head and shot a furious glare at his sister.

Nonor stared into the meadow and then to the others. "One should not try to rope the alicorn."

"Oh, that's just fantastic. You tell us that now?!" McKay sputtered with indignant horror. "Anything else we should know about this mythical, not-so-benign beast that you have failed to mention? Or didn't know about?" Rodney's bare accusations were laced with fear and trepidation.

"Enough, McKay," Ronon stated quietly, but with an air of unending resignation. Ronon shifted his notice to the silent medical doctor who still stared into the empty clearing. "Doctor Beckett?"

"Poor Lou," Beckett said softly, his shocked gaze turned to McKay. "It was like watching Vlad the Impaler."

"Vlad the Impaler?" McKay sputtered, shaking his head with quick hurried, disbelieving movements. "Lord, Carson your knowledgebase frightens me sometimes." He looked back into the clearing, "Should...should we go after it? Try to...get Corporal Jerkin somehow?"

"Probably already eating him," Ronon stated matter-of-factly. McKay grimaced.

"Did you have to say that? That was an image I was trying to avoid, thank you very much."

"Amazing beast, really," Beckett said distractedly not paying attention to those around him. "Did you notice how strong its nuchal ligament must be…Stronger than bull's I'd hazard." Beckett turned his attention from the empty meadow to McKay, who was eyeing him with concern. "We're doomed."

As if on cue, at that same moment, the alicorn, sans its two most recent victims, burst back into the glade, head and neck still covered in drying red blood. It stopped, stared at the four people still standing on the edge, and charged, bellowing a cry that sounded more like a hyena's scream than a roar.

If anything, it was even more terrifying.

TBC

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A/N: ... and the loveliest of the all was the alicorn! Sounds like my kind of pet! I hope you enjoyed the gore!

A/N: The bunker is quieter now that the interlopers have been removed. The lizard is still missing. I fear Sydney is in the plumbing somewhere. Something hisses behind the wainscoting - might be a snake. I have named him Burt. I think a stray mongoose, Vivian, is living somewhere in my hat collection. It will take some time to go through them all. Julie has begun the process of removing the Venus Flytraps. The plan is for her to eat them, but they are proving difficult to consume. Keep trying, Julie, my sweet! I know you can take them!